Standing Still
by attheclose
Summary: I'm sinking in this, and I don't know where to go as the darkness unfolds" - Deas Vail Bella is lost in life until she meets her saving angel. But there's something she's hiding. All Human, inspired by the songs of Deas Vail, BXE
1. Standing

_A/N: In my egocentric imagination, here is the long-awaited_ Standing Still_! It was inspired by the album_ All the Houses Look the Same _by Deas Vail, a fantastic band. Here's the prologue, hope you guys enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I am not Stephanie Meyers, I do not own _Twilight_ or any of its characters, settings, etc. I also do not own the album _All the Houses Look the Same_ or any of its songs or lyrics._

**Prologue – Standing…**

I was standing still, still as a statue, in front of a long mirror, examining myself. The reason I was standing so still was because if I didn't move I could almost believe that it wasn't real. That I wasn't real.

It was hard to say how I felt on this day. That was because at that moment, standing still in front of that mirror, I felt completely numb. I felt completely numb and completely alone, as if I was in a boat in the middle of the ocean, completely unreachable.

A single tear ran down my face as I thought about how broken I had been, how lost and alone I had been. Then I remembered the day my life had changed.

Before that day, I had been living for nothing, and it took me a long time to realize that that was what was wrong. I was just living from day to day, making it through, but with him, I actually looked forward to the next day. There was something that I wanted, and it was him.

On that day, my life had taken on meaning, and it had saved me. He had saved me from my self. I'd been sinking, but this beautiful man had reached out to me and pulled me through the storm. He was my angel.

_A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed! Thanks for reading, reviews are loved!_


	2. Light as Air

_A/N: Here's the first official chapter! Hope you guys like it!_

You're sinking in this and you don't know where to go

As the darkness unfolds

Nobody sees it, when you're alone

And all you know is that you want to start again

If you are burdened, I am as light as air take flight

I can carry you there

**- Deas Vail – Light as Air**

**Ch. 1 – Light as Air**

I let out a deep breath. The air in this room was entirely too stuffy and full of the smell of coffee. I despised the smell of coffee, if only for this room. For some reason, the teacher's lounge always made me feel trapped and suffocated. I picked up the stack of papers I'd just copied and quickly left, making my way back to my own classroom. I tossed the stack onto the desk and sat down behind it, plopping my forehead down on the surface.

These days never ended. It was the same thing every day. I woke up, I ate breakfast, I came to school, I taught the same two English lessons three times apiece, I prepared for the next day, and I went home to grade papers, make up lesson plans, and read. Even reading wasn't much of a release for me these days. Everything was a love story.

It had been the same for all three years that I had been teaching at Forks High School, and it would continue to be the same until I finally got up the nerve to leave.

But where would I go? There was nowhere for me to go, and even if I did, I would just fall into the same routine. The only difference would be the people and the scenery. But maybe that was enough right now. Maybe that was what I needed, because I definitely needed _something._ I just didn't know what.

I stapled a million papers, and then finally I was ready to go. I gathered my things, straightened my plain brown skirt, grabbed my umbrella, and left. I climbed into my battered old truck, barely supporting life now. I had had it for nearly ten years, (though I'd only driven it for 6), and it had never broken down on me, but I had to wonder how long that would last. How long before it, too, died off on me. Gave up. Shut down, like the rest of my life.

I was alone. The only true friends I'd had in high school, Angela and Jacob, were long gone, moved off to bigger and better things. I had severed all ties when I went to college, thinking I would never come back here, and yet here I was, back in this green, rain-drenched hell. Only this time, no one had been excited about my arrival, only a principal telling me to dress down so that the 9th and 10th grade boys I was teaching would see me as more than just a hot young teacher, forcing me to wear straight, boring skirts and blouses that covered everything, every day. I didn't really care about what I wore, but these days even that seemed exhausting and repetitious.

I thought about what I was going to have for dinner that night and realized I needed to stop by the store. I redirected myself and headed for the Thriftway. I pulled into the parking lot, got out of my truck, and got out my umbrella, turning to walk toward the door. I took a step and felt the world shift around me.

Before I could figure out what was happening, I was waking up.

"Ma'am? Are you alright?" an angel's voice called to me.

My vision swam before me. A person's face swam in and out of focus. I assumed it was my angel.

"Ma'am?"

The person became a little more focused. I realized that I was soaking wet and that my head and back hurt very badly. I wondered about this vaguely until the person I was looking at came into focus, then my eyes widened.

He was the most beautiful man I had ever seen. He had bronze hair, fair skin, and glowing green eyes. Maybe I was right, maybe he was an angel. If that was the case, then this must surely be heaven. So why was it so wet?

"Ma'am, can you hear me at all?" The angel looked concerned.

"Are you…an angel?" I asked, my voice slightly hoarse.

The angel raised and eyebrow and smiled.

"No ma'am," he said. "Not unless you need me to be." I started to open my mouth to say something else, but he added, "Are you alright? How's your head? Do you need me to take you to the doctor?"

I closed my mouth and furrowed my eyebrows. I didn't know what he was talking about, but I had just realized that I was laying on the ground with this man standing over me. It was raining on us.

"What?" I asked.

Apparently this was the wrong answer, for now he looked really concerned.

"You've just fallen and hit your head, ma'am," he said.

"Please stop calling me ma'am," I said. "you're making me feel old."

"Sorry," he said. "Can you sit up?"

"Well, surely," I said, trying. My head spun and I lay back down. "Ok…maybe not so sure," I said. I closed my eyes, but opened them again immediately, for I found that I was leaving the ground. The man was lifting me up off of the ground and carrying me somewhere. In a moment he lowered me into the backseat of a car. I law across it, my legs at awkward angles, and closed my eyes again. I could hear the man talking into his cell phone.

"Carlisle," he was saying. "I've got a woman here who fell and hit her head on the pavement. I'm worried about her, she seems to be a little out of it. I'm going to bring her over…No…No…The grocery store...Yeah…Ok, yeah, that's fine, bye.

"Um…if I can't call you ma'am, what can I call you?" he said to me.

"Bella," I said, opening my eyes again so that I could try to get another look at this handsome man playing my hero.

"Bella," he repeated. "My name is Edward. Alright, Bella, I'm going to take you to my father's house, he's a doctor. I want him to have a look at you. Is that alright with you?"

"Yeah," I mumbled. "Fine."

"Ok, that's good," he said. "I'm going to drive now."

"Right," I said, "of course." I heard him chuckle. It was a strange ride for me, lying in the back seat of a strange car with a strange man to a strange place, but soon we were there and I was in Edward's arms again. For some reason that pleased me.

He carried me up the steps to the front door, which opened for him. He carried me in and laid me down on a couch. From what I could see lying there, this was a very nice house. Edward was leaning over the back of the couch, holding my hand and occasionally stroking my forehead. An attractive, though a little older, man was leaning over me, checking things and occasionally asking questions. After a minute of this, the man looked up at Edward.

"She's fine," he told him. "Not even a concussion. At the worst she'll have a bad headache."

"Good," said Edward, looking down at me and stroking my cheek with his thumb. I saw Carlisle look at him curiously, and then look back down at me, smiling.

"You'll be fine, dear," he said. "I'll let Edward take care of you from here."

"Thank you," I said. I had known all along that I was fine, they should have just asked me. I was just trying to figure out what was happening. Now I could see that I had fallen in the parking lot of the grocery door and knocked myself out. When I'd come around, a man I didn't know had brought me to his father's house so that he could doctor me.

"Here, Bella, take these." Edward was holding out his hand. I sat up and looked down at it. There were two little white pills in it.

"What are they?" I asked.

"Just pain pills. They'll make your head hurt less."

I looked at him suspiciously. How did I know he was telling me the truth? What if he was giving me ecstasy or something? I looked into his eyes and found that they were earnest and intense.

"Ok," I said, taking the pills out of his hand. I accepted a glass of water and swallowed the pills. He sat down next to me.

"Thanks," I said. "For helping me out back there. I swear, only I could manage to injure myself in a grocery store parking lot."

He smiled. "Well, I don't mean to sound…mean…but I'm kind of glad you did. It gave me a chance to meet you. Plus, I have to say, the damsel in distress thing has always appealed to me."

"Well I guess that makes you my knight in shining armor then," I said, smiling. And then, before I knew what was happening, his lips were on mine.

My eyes widened. This was the most powerful kiss I had ever experienced. Every inch of my body was tingling and I felt like I was floating. I was as light as air.

_A/N: Light as Air is one of my most favorite Deas Vail songs. You can listen to them at purevolume if you're interested, which you should be because they're amazing!_

_Thanks for reading, reviews are loved!_


	3. Surface

_A/N: Enjoy! It's kind of short, but it's really just a transition and an insight into Edward's mind._

Come away forever more

We could place everyone on the floor

We could love them as our own,

But we watch from above all alone

- **Deas Vail – Surface **

**Ch. 2 – Surface**

Edward's POV

I pulled away gently, blushing a little. I couldn't believe I had done that, just kissed a girl I didn't even know. I had met her maybe 10 minutes ago under strange circumstances, and all I knew about her was her name. I just stared at her for a second, shocked with myself. She stared back, her face blank. I knew she had to be feeling _something_, but on the surface, there was nothing. Just empty windows.

"I'm sorry," I said softly. She didn't say anything, she just sat there, her face blank, as if she had completely shut down. I cleared my throat nervously.

"So…I guess I should take you back to your truck. Do you think you'll be alright to drive?"

"Yeah," she said quietly. "I'm perfectly fine."

"Alright," I said, feeling heart broken. Obviously she was upset that I had kissed her. I felt terrible, and I felt like an idiot. Of course she would reject me, why shouldn't she?

I helped her up off of the couch, but quickly released her, giving her some space. I saw Esme appear at the top of the stair case, looking down at us curiously. She raised an eyebrow at me, but I shook my head. She nodded and turned back around. I led Bella out to my car in silence.

"Nice Volvo," she said as we reached the car.

"Thank you," I said. We got in the car.

"So…" I said, hoping to learn a little more about her. "What do you do?"

"I teach 9th and 10th grade English," she replied.

"That's cool," I said. She shrugged.

"I'm a photographer," I told her. "My father, Carlisle, is a doctor, as you may have guessed, and he and my mother just moved here. I came up to visit and take some pictures."

She didn't reply. My heart was breaking a little bit. I had thought I had felt something between us, but I guess she didn't feel the same. I didn't say anything else for the rest of the drive.

"Here we are," I said as I pulled in next to her truck. "Try to be a little more careful next time, alright?"

She nodded silently. I frowned.

"Here's my number," I said, scribbling on a piece of scrap paper, "and Carlisle's number, in case you need anything, or if your head hurts for longer than a few hours or gets worse. Or if you ever feel dizzy. If anything feels wrong, please call us, alright?"

She nodded again and took the paper without looking at it. She got out of the car and stood there for a second.

"Thank you again," she said.

"It was my pleasure," I replied sadly. And then I watched her drive away, kicking myself mentally. How could I have blown it like that? The instant I had seen her get out of her truck I had felt something powerful. I had instantly thought of love. There was just something about her that called to me. When I had seen her fall…I couldn't help but run to her, but of course I wasn't in time to catch her. I did everything I could, though.

And it had seemed to me like she liked me. I'd thought she was flirting back. She'd called me an angel and a knight in shining armor, but when I'd kissed her she'd completely shut down. I couldn't understand it.

And then I did understand. Of course. She was probably married. That had to be it. I couldn't believe I'd just kissed a married woman. But I didn't know she was married. I actually still didn't know if she was married or not, but I had a feeling that was it. Why wouldn't a woman like that already be taken?

Before I had kissed her, her eyes had had depth. They were deep, chocolate brown, and beautiful. But after I had kissed her, they became flat, just like every other brown eye in the world. I couldn't see past the surface. I sighed and turned my car back on, driving in deep thought back to Carlisle's house. They were waiting for me when I got there.

"So who was she?" he asked as soon as I came in the door.

I shrugged sadly. "Her name is Bella and she's an English teacher at the high school."

"That's all you know?" he asked, surprised.

"She didn't tell me any more. I did something really stupid," I blurted. "I kissed her."

"That doesn't sound so stupid to me," said Esme, standing beside Carlisle.

"She was probably married," I said miserably.

"Oh," said Carlisle. "Well she might not have been. Did you ask?"

"No," I said. "I didn't think about it until after she left, but I'm sure she was. After I kissed her it was like she shut down. She didn't look mad or upset or anything, she was just…completely blank."

"I'm sorry, Edward," said Esme.

"I don't really think she was married," Carlisle said thoughtfully. "I didn't see a ring on her finger."

"I didn't either," I said, "but I wasn't looking. And that doesn't necessarily mean she's not married."

Carlisle shrugged. "Maybe not, but I don't think you should give up on her."

"I don't think it's up to me," I said sadly. "I don't think she's giving me a chance."

"I don't know," Carlisle said, "I could see something between the two of you. I wouldn't let her go."

"I already did!" I said miserably. "I don't have any information about her, I don't know her phone number, or where she lives, or even her last name!"

"You know where she works," Esme pointed out. "Maybe you could find her there."

I thought about that for a minute. "Yeah, I guess I could," I said. "But I wouldn't want to seem like a stalker."

Esme shrugged. "Don't force anything on her then, just go talk to her."

"Tell her you wanted to check on her," suggested Carlisle. "You wanted to make sure she was ok from her fall."

"That's a good idea," I said, easily convinced. "I'll do it. Next week. I at least have to find out if she's married, and if she's not, then I need to know what else was wrong. I know there's something more. It's going to kill me not knowing."

And it did. Or very nearly, at least. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, I was miserable. All I could see was that dead look on her face when I'd pulled away. It tore me up inside. I couldn't understand how I could feel so strongly about a girl I didn't even know. Surely this girl was meant to be my downfall. In those moments, I couldn't imagine any worse pain. I was utterly depressed.

I hoped and prayed that she would call me, and I waited and waited, incredibly impatient, but of course the call never came. I finally gave up on that hope and went back to thinking about finding her at the school. But I had to wait until at least Monday before I could do that, and even then I didn't want to go on Monday. I didn't want to seem desperate or like a stalker. It took all of my will power _not _to go to her on Monday, but I managed. I told myself I would go on Tuesday, and whatever happened would happen. I just had to know.

_A/N: I know this story has kind of a sadder tone than my other story did, but don't worry, it gets better!_

_Thanks for reading, reviews are loved!_


	4. Rewind

_A/N: Sorry it took so long, if anyone even noticed that it did. I took time off for a while because of Breaking Dawn. Ya know. Anyway, here's chapter 3, enjoy!_

_This behaves like a bad dream_

_Where we go walking in the dark_

_And heavenly are these bright lights_

_They're keeping me awake and I can't close my eyes_

_I've watched my life through windows_

**- Deas Vail - Rewind**

**Ch. 3 – Rewind**

Bella's POV

I sat on the couch in my living room, staring at a page of the book I wasn't reading. I was so angry with myself. I couldn't believe I had just frozen up like that. Edward thought I didn't like him, and how could I blame him? He had kissed me, it had felt wonderful, and then I had frozen up.

I hated myself. I really did at that moment. I had been given something incredible and I had turned my back on it because I was too scared. The things I had felt when he had kissed me terrified me. He had brought up feelings I'd been trying to suppress for years. Everything had hit me so fast that I'd gone into auto-pilot.

I slammed my book down on the couch next to me and buried my face in my hands, taking several deep breaths. I grabbed my cell-phone and found the name I was looking for, hitting the call button.

"Hello?"

"Hey…"

"Bella?"

"Um, yeah, hey Jess."

"Bella, are you ok?" Jessica asked.

"Oh, yeah," I said, clearing my throat. "I was just wondering if you wanted to do something tonight. I need to get out of the house."

"Oh," she said, obviously surprised. I heard some noise in the background. "Yeah, hold on a sec…Tanner, get down from there right now! I'm counting to three! One…two…that's it!" I flinched away from the phone. There was more noise and then the sound of a child wailing. "Sorry," Jessica said breathlessly. "My son was trying to climb onto the table again. I had to pull him off. So, what were you saying?"

"Well…I was going to see if you wanted to do something tonight, but I can see you're busy…"

"Oh yeah, right. Well…yeah, we could do something I guess. We haven't hung out in forever. I mean, it would probably be best if we didn't go _out, _I've got the kids, it would be hard to find a sitter at such late notice, but maybe we could watch a movie here?"

"Couldn't Chad watch the kids?" I asked. Jessica had married Mike's older cousin Chad a year out of high school, got pregnant, and dropped out of college.

"Well," she said hesitantly, "I don't know what time he's getting home from work today. He's been doing some odd hours lately."

"Ok," I said. "I guess that would be fine. I just really want to get out of the house."

"Alright," she said. "I've got some movies here, but if you'd like something else you can rent one before you come over. Just try to keep it PG."

"I'm sure whatever you have is fine," I said. "What time?"

"Um…any time I guess."

"Ok. How about in half an hour?"

"Sounds just fine," she said.

"Alright, see you then. Thanks Jess."

"No problem, Bella. See you soon." She hung up.

I sighed. I didn't really want to hang out with Jessica, but she was pretty much the only person around here I was still relatively friends with, and I needed to do _something. _

I went up to my bedroom and changed into jeans and a t-shirt, pulling my hair into a pony-tail. My stomach growled and I remembered that I never made it to the grocery store. I went to the kitchen and poked around in the refrigerator for something edible. I finally settled on some left over lasagna. I didn't have time to cook. I heated it up and ate it out of the container, not even bothering to sit down at the table.

Once I was finished I got in my truck and drove to Jessica's house. She didn't live to far from me. When I knocked on the door I heard childish screaming from the other side.

"Hallie, please stop screaming, you're giving mommy a headache," I heard Jessica's voice approach the door. She opened it and smiled at me.

"Hey Bella, come on in," she said.

"Thanks for letting me come," I told her again.

"No problem," she said, turning to go into the kitchen. "Go ahead and make yourself at home in the living room, I'll just be a second."

She disappeared into the kitchen. A little girl with curly brown hair smiled up at me. I recognized her as Hallie, Jessica's middle child.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Don't you remember me?" I asked. She shook her head. "I guess it's been a while since I've been here. My name's Bella. I'm a friend of your momma's. And you've gotten really big since the last time I saw you! How old are you now?"

"I'm four!" she announced proudly. "Come and meet my brothers!" She grabbed my hand and dragged me into the living room, where a little boy with blonde hair and an older boy with curly brown hair were watching cartoons.

"Alex, Tanner!" she said cheerfully, capturing the boys' attention. "This is Bella! Bella, these are my brothers, Alex and Tanner. Alex is 5 and a half, but Tanner is only 2!"

I smiled at them.

"I already know her, Hallie," Alex said smugly.

Hallie pouted. Tanner toddled over to me and wrapped his chubby arms around my legs, smiling up at me. I picked him up.

"You're a cutie," I told him. He grinned even more and grabbed my necklace. "No, no," I told him, gently prying the charm out of his fingers. "Let's not play with that."

"Sorry, Bella," said Jessica, hurrying into the room. "What movie do you want to watch?"

It didn't really matter to me what we watched, I didn't really watch it. I sat on the floor with Hallie in my lap, playing with her hair, while Tanner stood behind me and played with _my _hair. When the movie was over I looked over at Jessica. She was passed out on the couch. I smiled. Chad wasn't home yet, and I didn't want to leave the kids alone or wake up Jessica, so I decided to stick around. I stayed for nearly an hour before Jessica finally woke up.

"Oh!" she said, sitting up groggily. "I'm so sorry, Bella!"

"No, it's fine," I said. "I had a good time."

"What time is it?" she asked.

"About 8:30," I replied.

"Where in the world is Chad?" she said. She grabbed her phone and pushed number 2 on her speed dial. "Where are you?" she said as soon as he answered. "Oh. Ok, well, grab something to eat in town, we've already eaten."

I tuned out the rest of their conversation. Tanner had fallen asleep across my lap, so I picked him up and carried him to his room, laying him gently across the bed and tucking the blankets around him. Jessica came and stood in the door way.

"You're going to make a good mother someday," she told me.

I smiled. "Thanks. That's if I ever am a mother."

"Are you seeing anyone?" she asked.

I sighed. "No. Not really."

"Bella…are you ok? You don't seem very happy," Jessica observed.

"I'm fine," I said. "Just a little tired of the same routine every day."

She nodded. We heard the front door open, and she smiled.

"Chad's home," she said.

"Alright, well I'll get going then."

"Ok," she said. "If you ever need anything, just give me a call, alright?"

"Alright," I said. "Thanks. And if you ever need a baby sitter, I'd be happy to do it."

"I might take you up on that," she said. "You were really good with the kids tonight."

"They're good kids," I said.

"Most of the time," she said, grinning.

"Alright, well, I guess I'll talk to you later. It was good hanging out."

"Yeah, it was," she said. "See you later."

I drove home in silence, brooding. It was strange. When Jessica had first gotten pregnant with Alex and dropped out of school, I had pitied her, but now I found myself envious. She had something I didn't. A family. I was all alone now, and I _was _unhappy. Jessica was right. Now I was glad that I'd gone to visit her. I saw now how motherhood had changed her. She was humbled, and she had matured a great deal. I had actually enjoyed myself.

I found myself hoping that I could baby sit again soon, if only so I could play mom. It was pitiful, I knew, but right now it was all I had.

I got home and threw my keys on the counter. I was about to go up to my bedroom when something caught my eye. I looked back at the counter and noticed the little square of paper on which Edward had written his number. I examined it for a moment before programming the numbers into my phone.

I needed something new in my life. Maybe it was him. If only I hadn't just completely shut down like I had.

My life was such a wreck. Nothing exciting, or even good had ever happened to me, and now I was ruining my first chance at happiness in so long…

I just wished I could rewind and try it all again.

_A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing!_


	5. Shoreline

A/N: Great song. Excellent song actually. I hope this chapter lives up to it.

_The shoreline calls the sea for simple words and company_

_But words go on and on 'til they collide and all is gone_

_I dive into the deep, into the sea inside of me_

_To find another song, to find a place where I belong_

**- Deas Vail - Shoreline**

**Ch. 6 – Shoreline**

Edward's POV

It had been three days since I'd met Bella, and I couldn't get her off of my mind. I couldn't do anything else. I hardly ate, I hardly slept, I couldn't concentrate on my work. Carlisle and Esme were terribly worried about me. Esme would go to the piano and play some of our favorite songs, the songs we'd played together when I was a child, to try to get me to play with her, but I never did. Carlisle wasn't so subtle. He threatened to call Alice if I didn't cheer up, but we both knew he was bluffing. We both knew that Alice would probably only put me in a worse mood.

I thought about calling Emmett, but decided against it. He would only make fun of me for 'acting like a girl' or something like that. Cheering people up wasn't really his area. Then I thought about Jasper. His presence was soothing to me. Maybe he could make me feel a little better. But then I remembered that where Jasper goes, Alice goes.

I jumped about a foot in the air. My cell phone was ringing. I looked down at it suspiciously, unfamiliar with the number.

"Hello?"

"Hi." My heart froze, then picked up double time. I wasn't sure if I was just wishfully hallucinating or not, but it sounded like _her._

"Yes?" I asked.

"This is…Bella," she said. I grinned and nearly jumped out of my seat.

"Hey, Bella," I said, hoping I didn't sound as excited as I really was. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," she said. "My head hasn't hurt any more since Friday."

"That's good," I said. "I'm glad to hear it."

"Yeah," she said. "Listen, I just wanted to apologize for the other day. I shouldn't have reacted that way."

"No," I said, "I was too forward. I shouldn't have kissed you. You aren't…married are you?"

She actually laughed. It was a strained, sad sort of laugh, but it was still a laugh.

"No," she said. "I'm single. It's not that, it's just…I guess you just surprised me. I wasn't upset with you at all. In fact…it was rather nice."

I smiled. Rather nice. This was almost more than I could stand.

"That's good," I said as calmly as I could.

"So I was wondering…if I hadn't reacted that way, you probably would have taken me out to dinner, right?"

"Um…" I was caught off guard a little. "I suppose I probably would have, yeah."

"Well, would you like to have dinner with me tonight? I'll cook. You know, to make up for my behavior before."

"Yes, of course," I said, a little too enthusiastically. "I would love to. I mean…if you really want to. Don't do anything you're uncomfortable with."

"Good," she said. "How about tonight, around 7:00?"

"That sounds perfect," I said. "Where do you live?"

She gave me directions to her house, which I quickly jotted down. I could hardly think for all of the excitement. I couldn't believe she had actually called me. I hadn't expected it. Not only had she called me, but she had invited me to dinner at her house. I was thrilled. More than thrilled, I was positively ecstatic.

"Ok, so I'll see you at 7:00," she said.

"Yes, I'll see you then," I said. She hung up.

"Carlisle!" I yelled, running out of my room and to the stairs. "Esme!"

"What? What's wrong?" Carlisle shouted back, poking his head out of his office door. Esme came out of the kitchen to look up at me as well.

"She called me!" I yelled. "I'm going to her house for dinner tonight!"

I was so nervous. I felt like a teenage boy going on his first ever date with a real girl. I spent way more time than any man should trying to decide what to wear. I finally let Esme pick for me. Once I had that settled, I paced around the house, trying to find something to do. I finally sat down at my piano and started to play a song that had been writing itself in my head since I'd met Bella. Finally, it was time to go.

I had no trouble finding her house, the directions she gave me were very clear. I stood in front of her door for a moment, taking deep breaths. I didn't want to mess this up again. Apparently I would have to be slow and gentle with this woman. I raised my hand and knocked on the door.

She opened it and took my breath away. She was even more amazing than I had remembered. It wasn't that she was drop dead gorgeous. According to most people's standards, she was fairly plain. Pretty, but nothing extraordinary. There was just something about her. She had a glow about her, a goodness in her face, that called to me. She had depth to her. She was interesting, she was different, and she was perfect.

"Hi," she said, smiling shyly. A blush crept into her cheeks, which I found incredibly attractive for some reason.

"Hello," I said, grinning at her. Seeing her put all of the worries from the past few days out of my mind. Now, here, with her, I was happy.

"Come in," she said breathlessly. I followed her into the house and into her kitchen. I was a little surprised about the house. It didn't seem like a single woman's house, it seemed more like a single man's house. I wondered if maybe she lived her with her father, or if she had a roommate.

"Do you live here alone?" I asked.

"Yes," she said, seeming surprised.

"Have you always lived here alone?" I ventured, trying to learn more about this mysterious woman.

She was silent for a moment, then she finally shook her head. She didn't seem like she wanted to pursue the conversation, so I pushed the question to the back of my mind. I would find out later.

She already had the table set with a plate of salmon and a salad in the center.

"I hope you like salmon," she said nervously.

"I do," I said, "I happen to like it a lot. My mom cooks it all the time, it's my dad's favorite."

She smiled. "That's good. I'm glad I chose well. I was nervous about it."

"No need to be nervous," I assured her. "I'm sure I would love whatever you cooked. And if I didn't, I would pretend for your sake."

She laughed and blushed. "I wouldn't want to do that," she said. "You can always be honest with me."

"I will try to always be honest with you," I said, smiling. "Unless it is a matter of tact."

She looked beautiful when she smiled like that, and her laugh was like bells to me. I couldn't help but smile at her happiness.

I pulled out a chair for her, and then took the chair across the table. She served me some salad and we ate in silence for a minute.

"So you teach high school?" I asked.

"Yes," she said. "It gets a little monotonous sometimes, teaching the same lessons over and over again, but the kids keep it lively. I like it."

I nodded.

"What do you do?" she asked me. "You said you're a photographer?"

"Yeah, it's really no big deal though. I like to take pictures; sometimes I sell them to magazines and stuff or take pictures for newspapers. But that's not my real passion."

"What's that?" she asked.

"Music."

"Oh really?" she said, interested. "So…you play instruments, or do you sing, or what?"

"Well, I have training in the violin, and I can also play the guitar, but my main interest is the piano. I love to play the piano."

"That's wonderful," she said. "Do you write your own songs?"

I nodded. "Sometimes. I've written a good handful."

She smiled at me, which made my heart soar. "I'd like to hear them sometimes."

For some reason this excited me more than anything else she'd said so far. It gave me hope that she wanted to see me again after tonight.

"Again," she said, "thank you for coming. I still feel bad about how I acted the other day."

"Bella," I said, grinning, "you are a siren to me, the way the shoreline calls the sea. How could I not?"

_A/N: I kind of made it a little backwards from the book, only not nearly as exciting, dramatic, or even good. Instead of Bella instantly becoming raptured with Edward, and him shying away because of his secret, it works the other way around. Don't get too excited though, Bella's secret is nothing like Edward's in the book. Far more mundane and human. Shrug shrug. Hope you guys like it anyway._

_Thanks for reading and reviewing!_


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